FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2010, file photo, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Shawntae Spencer (36) walks off the field during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. The 49ers released the cornerback Spencher on Thursday, March 15, 2012, after he spent eight seasons with the team.(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

The days of the Raiders relying heavily on their cornerbacks playing one-on-one - a staple under late owner Al Davis - are over. New cornerback Shawntae Spencer and the rest of the team got their playbooks last week.

"We're still learning; we don't even have one-third of the playbook in yet," Spencer said. "But we're definitely not going to be one-dimensional. We're going to have a little bit of everything: man, zone, zone pressures. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Spencer said one of the team's best acquisitions this offseason was defensive coordinator Jason Tarver. Tarver, 37, was a defensive assistant when Spencer played for the 49ers.

"He is a rising star," Spencer said. "Been underused for so long. He just has so much intelligence when it comes to the X's and O's. He is one of the brightest minds out there."

Tarver and the Raiders reached out to Spencer hours after they heard the 49ers cut the eight-year veteran.

Spencer had started every game for the 49ers in 2009 and '10 but appeared in only nine games with no starts for head coach Jim Harbaugh and the NFC West champions last season.

The Raiders' new cornerback pulled his hamstring the second day of training camp last year, aggravated the injury and was out until Week 3, when he injured his toe.

"It was tough," Spencer said. "It was a very humbling experience. I got hurt in training camp and didn't have a chance to showcase to the new coaching staff whether I could play in their system."

He would watch most of the 49ers' success from the sideline and was even inactive for games down the stretch.

"At a certain point in time, I knew that the ship had sailed," he said. "Things were going so well, why would they take a chance and put me back in?"

Spencer comes to the Raiders with a sense of optimism.

"It's a fresh start," Spencer said. "I don't have a chip on my shoulder. I just love football. Love playing it. To have it taken away from you is very tough ... and now I have a chance to enjoy what I do again."

New Raiders head coach Dennis Allen was a safety in college at Texas A&M and came up the coaching ranks as a defensive backs coach.

"The first thing that came out of his mouth when we met," Spencer said, "was, 'I am a defensive back at heart. You are the last line of defense and I take that very seriously.' "

Allen was happy to add two veterans in Spencer and former Ram Ron Bartell, giving second-year players DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa more time to develop.

"Ron and I are very approachable people and they can always pull us aside or call us anytime of the day or night," Spencer said. "There is a science to this position, and we can help them understand that better."

Spencer has been impressed after only a week with Van Dyke and Chekwa.

"They are very good young men, very athletic and very talented," Spencer said. "The sky is the limit for them. It is going to be very fun for Ron and I to watch them develop."

Pryor at backup

The Raiders are going to give Terrelle Pryor first shot at being the No. 2 quarterback, starting at next week's voluntary minicamp. Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie said Wednesday that the coaches "need to find out how good he is and how good he can be."

Pryor, the Ohio State alum on whom the Raiders used a third-round pick in last year's supplemental draft, was the No. 3 QB last season. He was on the field for one snap, which was erased when he was called for a false start. Now he has a chance to back up Carson Palmer.

"That's his goal right there," McKenzie said at a pre-draft news conference. "And that's the goal that the coaches are going to try to get him going. They need to know what he is, how he can throw the ball, how he picks it up and get him on the field."

Depending on how Pryor does, the Raiders will know how badly they need to sign an experienced free-agent quarterback such as Matt Leinart or Billy Volek. Leinart played under new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp in Houston last season.

"Next week, I think, it's going to be a great tell-tale sign for the coaching staff," McKenzie said. "Not just for the quarterback position, but many of those positions."